Background and career
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, record executive, businessman, and producer. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows Pop Idol (2001–2003), The X Factor (2004–2010; 2014–2018), and Britain's Got Talent (2007–present), as well as the American television talent competition shows American Idol (2002–2010), The X Factor (2011–2013), and America's Got Talent (2016–present). Cowell founded the entertainment company Syco Entertainment in 2005, as well as its defunct predecessor, Syco Music (also known as S Records) in 2002. He is the creator of the X Factor and Got Talent television franchises, which have been adapted in numerous countries around the world.
After some success in the 1980s and 1990s as a record producer, talent agent and consultant in the British music industry, Cowell came to public prominence in 2001 as a judge on Pop Idol, a television show which he and its creator Simon Fuller successfully pitched to ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz. Cowell is known for making blunt, critical and controversial comments as a television music and talent show judge, including insults and wisecracks about contestants and their singing abilities. Through his work in television and the music industry, he has been involved in launching and developing the careers of a number of commercially successful recording artists and groups including Little Mix, Fifth Harmony, One Direction, Susan Boyle, Leona Lewis, Westlife, Alexandra Burke, Il Divo, and CNCO.
In 2004 and 2010, Time named Cowell one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2006, the British public ranked him number 28 in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars, and in 2008, The Daily Telegraph ranked him sixth in their list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". In 2008, he received the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards. At the 2010 British Academy Television Awards, Cowell received the BAFTA Special Award for his "outstanding contribution to the entertainment industry and for his development of new talent". In 2018, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the television category.
Simon Phillip Cowell was born on 7 October 1959 in Lambeth, London, and raised in Elstree, Hertfordshire. His mother, Julie Brett (née Josie Dalglish, 1925–2015), was a ballet dancer and socialite, and his father, Eric Selig Phillip Cowell (1918–1999), was an estate agent, property developer, and music industry executive. Cowell's father was from a mostly Jewish family (his own mother was born in Poland), though he did not discuss his ancestry with his children. Cowell's mother was from a Christian background. He has a younger brother, Nicholas Cowell; three half brothers, John, Tony, and Michael Cowell; and a half sister, June Cowell.
Cowell attended Radlett Preparatory School, Licensed Victuallers' School in Ascot for one year, and the private Dover College, as did his brother, but left after taking GCE O levels. He passed English Language and Literature and then attended Windsor Technical College, where he gained another GCE in Sociology. Cowell took a few menial jobs—including, according to his brother Tony, working as a runner on Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film The Shining—but did not get along well with colleagues and bosses, until his father, who was an executive at EMI Music Publishing, managed to get him a job in the mail room. However, after failing to get a promotion, he left to try out other jobs before returning to EMI.
How Simon Cowell makes money
The 2006 winner, Janusz Liberkowski, received $1 million and the opportunity to develop his idea into a business. The event raised $20 million and Cowell made a personal donation of $150,000. He was also named one of the wealthiest people in the UK by the Sunday Times Rich List, Cowell was worth £385 million in 2019.
